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On the Meaning of RV X.136: Comets?

B. N. Narahari Achar

Introduction

S#kta RV X. 136is an intriguings#kta. It consists of seven =ks in anu&{up

cha agnis#ryadevat@tmaka>. The deities are Agni, Vayu and Surya, for ke^a

sth@n$y@ra^maya* | tadvanta* ke^ina* agnirv@yu* s#rya&ca | ete traya* stutyante |

Wearers of long hair are Agni, Vayu and Surya. These three are the ones praised here.

Griffith does note thatKe^ina* may refer to Agni, Vayu and Surya, but does not

pursue this idea further. He prefers the point of view put forth by Roth, praising the

ascetic. Other scholars also appear to follow the same line. The purpose of this note is to

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provide an alternate explanation of thes#kta, based on the traditional explanations of

Nirukta andB=haddevata, taking the clue from where theNirukta left off.

II Who is theKe^in?

Nirukta clearly says ke^@ ra^maya*: That means by long hair rays are meant, for

k@^an@rdv@ prak@^an@rdv@ on account of shining. That meansKe^in refers to that entity

which has long hair and shines. What object has this characteristic? It is a Comet! It does

not refer to Agni, Surya or Vayu, or to the longhaired ascetic. It refers to a Comet. It may

be noted that the word Comet itself is derived from the Greek word for hair. This entire

s#kta is about Comets. The =ks become more understandable from the point of view of

Comets and what might have appeared to be a little stretch to understand with reference

to a long haired ascetic, now yields to a smooth rendering. The following section gives a

translation of the =ks from this new point of view. The available translations have been

consulted and for each mantra, the translation which appears to fit best in the context of

Comets is given below

III.S#kta RV X. 136 and its Translation

Ke^yagni> ke^$ vi&a> ke^$ bibharti rodas$ |

Ke^$ vi^va> svard=^e ke^$dam jyotirucyate || 1 ||

Kesin bears fire, Kesin bears water, and the Kesin fills heaven and earth.

Kesin is the entire sky to look upon. Kesin is called the light.[ Translation based on Bose and Muir]

Clearly this mantra describes the appearance of a Comet. Kesin is the comet with a tail.

The comet shines with a fiery and watery appearance and its tail stretches across the sky

Munayo v@tara^an@* pi^a

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more appropriate here and in the next mantra. The appearance of the tail is brownish and

dirty and the path is across the sky, where the gods have gone before.

unm@dit@* mauneyenav@t@n @ tasthim@ vayam |

^ar$red asm@kam y#yam mart@so abhi pa^yatha || 3 ||

Transported by impulses (=munis), we have pursued the winds with ecstasy.

Only those bodies of ours are what you mortals ever see.

[Translation based on Muir and Bose]

antarik&e%a patati vi^v@r#p@ avac@ka^at|

munirdevasya devasya sauk=ty@ya sakh@ hita* || 4 ||

The muni flies through the mid air exhibiting varied forms.

He is the friend and associate of every god in doing good.

[Translation based on Bose]

Here,S@ya%as explanation for avac@ka^at=svatejas@ dar^ayan exhibiting by its own

radiance appears to be better suited.

v@tasy@^vo v@yo*sakh@ atho deve&ito muni* |

ubhau samudr@v@ k&eti ya^ca p#rva ut@para* || 5 ||

The muni, impelled by the gods, the steed of the wind, the friend of vayu, finds his

home in both the oceans, eastern and western.

[Translation based on Muir, Griffith and Bose]S@ya%a explains a^va* = vy@pta*, v@yureva tasy@h@ra* iti, vayu is his food.

apsaras@m gandhrv@%@m m=g@%@m cara%e caran |

ke^$ ketasya vidv@n tsakh@ sv@durmadintama* || 6 ||

Treading the path of apsarasas, the gandharvas, and the deer, the Kesin is aware of our

wish and a sweet most delightful friend.

[Translation based on Bose]

v@yur asmai up@manthat pina&{i sma kunannam@ |

ke^$ vi&asya p@tre%a yad rudre%@pibat saha || 7 ||

Agitated by the wind, the Kesin pounds on things hard to bend and breaks them down

by means of the vessel of water (visha) which he drank with Rudra.

[Translation based on Muir]

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Mantras 3-7 describe the paths of comets as seen by humans, together with some

associated effects. The only bodies of the Comets visible are those which appear to be

excited as if driven by wind. The word muni (= impulse driven ) can also be taken to

mean a Comet. Though a Comet is generally considered to be a bad omen, it is not

always so. Thus we have in mantra 4, that it is friend and associate of every god doing

good. One can compare this with the statement of Varahamihira [8] regarding comets in

B=hatsa>hita (XI.8), subhik&a saukhy@va* ketu*.the comet brings an abundance of

food crops and happiness.

The next couple of mantras describe the various paths of comets. The comets can be

found in any part of the sky. They might appear to be touching the horizon, so they are

described as finding home in both eastern and western oceans. Their paths can lie among

stars, so they follow the paths of apsaras and gandharvas. The use ofm=g@%@m is

suggestive. It would refer to the constellation ofm=ga^iras. For the last mantraS@ya%a

explains:s#ryama%dale ghan$bh#tam tadudakam v@yur upamamanth@ti, it breaks

down the solidified water into vapor form in the sky. It is tempting to offer that the tail of

the Comet itself arises because of the radiation pressure from the Sun. It must be admitted

that the reference to Rudras drinking (poison?) is not clear.

IV. Conclusions

It is suggested that thiss#kta may be best interpreted as referring to Comets. Thegraphic description in terms of loosely bound and flowing hair stretching across the sky

for the smoky fiery nature of the tail, and in terms of the path of thegandharv@s and

apsarasa s all make sense. The fact that Comets are also indicators of good things to

come also finds support. Thiss#kta would be among the earliest references to Comets in

Vedic literature.

References

[1] Griffith, Ralph, The Hymns of the Rgveda, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi

(1973), p 636.

[2] Muir, J, Original Sanskrit Texts, Oriental Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi,

(1976), Part IV, p 318.

[3] Von Roth, quoted in Muir, ibid.

[4] Panikkar, R,Mantra Manjari

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[5] Bose, Avinash C.,Hymns from the Vedas, Asia Publishing House, New York,

(1965), p 156.

[6] Lakshman Sarup, The Nighantu and The Nirukta, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers,

Delhi, (1984) p 214

[7] Mitra, Rajendralala,Brihad-Devata: An Index to the gods of Rigveda, Saunaka ,

Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta (1893).

[8] Bhat, M. Ramakrishna ,Varahamihiras Brihat Samhita, Motilal Banarsidass

Publishers, Delhi (1995), Part I, p. 125